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Bjarke Ingels has found the elusive silver lining in global sea level rise and the European affordable housing crisis in the form of "Urban Rigger," a series of inexpensive student housing complexes that are designed to float in the sea, especially in those cities which have dense urban cores next... View full entry
Once known as the city of single family homes, Los Angeles is now developing high-density housing complexes, not only in downtown, but according to this Urban Land article, on the traditionally reluctant-to-develop West Side.The developments mark a shift in how Los Angeles conceptualizes living... View full entry
London’s traditional elite, such as lawyers, architects and academics, are being pushed out of their enclaves in Mayfair, Chelsea and Hampstead by an influx of global super rich investors, causing a chain reaction of gentrification across the capital, according to research by the London School of Economics.
An influx of ultra-high-net worth overseas buyers is leading the old elite to sell up and move from London’s most exclusive postcodes and buy in areas they previously considered undesirable
— the Guardian
While it may be hard to sympathise with the "traditional elite", these displacements set off a chain-reaction, as the affluent middle class moves into neighbourhoods that were once working class. In turn, lower-income Londoners are forced out of the city all together.For more on the... View full entry
While zoning is a perfectly fine strategy to map new suburban cul-de-sac subdivisions and to stop growth, it backfires when we try to use it to guide the future of an evolving, dynamic city like Los Angeles. Zoning is a 20th century relic designed to “protect” existing residents from the encroachment of people and buildings they see as “undesirable.” [...]
we should be following Chicago’s approach by focusing on public spaces, infrastructure and other common assets.
— latimes.com
Related on Archinect:Frank Gehry's Sunset Strip mixed-user approved by LA City Planning Commission, with 15% affordable unitsCalifornia lawmakers turn to "granny flats" to help ease housing shortageMichael Maltzan proposes greening L.A.'s 134 freewayIs Los Angeles becoming a "real" city?LAPD... View full entry
To help ease California’s housing crisis, Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers are turning to people’s backyards.
Multiple bills with the endorsement of Brown are moving through the Legislature to make it easier for homeowners to build small units on their properties, whether in their garages, as additions to existing homes or as new, freestanding structures.
[Mayor] Eric Garcetti and other supporters hope the relaxed rules will spur backyard home building to combat a housing shortage..
— Los Angeles Times
For more on Los Angeles' major housing crisis, check out these links:Los Angeles sues property owner who allegedly evicted tenants for Airbnb flipLA has a housing crisis – but the problem isn't those fancy new towersMeditating on the "Past Future Housing" of Los Angeles with Morgan Fisher and... View full entry
Facebook could be your next landlord. In an effort to drum up support for the controversial expansion of its headquarters, the social media giant is trying to give back to the community by building at least 1,500 housing units that can be rented by the general public—not just Facebook employees [...]
Facebook has pledged that 15 percent of the new units it creates will go to low- or middle-income families.
— Gizmodo
...Which is great until you realize that 85 percent of the building will probably be ridiculously expensive and probably populated by local tech bros.For more on Silicon Valley urbanism, check out these links:Silicon Valley campuses at risk as sea levels riseMark Zuckerberg's resolution for... View full entry
It’s not a new argument to say that cities are increasingly morphing from social configurations to investment vehicles. [...]
“Self-builds”, “Baugruppen”, and “zelfbouw” are just a few ways to define variations of building-it-yourself (BIY), whether done individually or as a collective. The end users (who are the commissioners), together with architects, decide on the design of their homes, and then take care of the construction themselves or have contractors do it.
— failedarchitecture.com
Related stories on Archinect:It's the Culture, Stupid: curatorial statement for the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, from executive director George BrugmansReinhold Martin hosts contentious 'House Housing' panel, provoking discussion on inequality, real estate and architectureHalfway... View full entry
I’m no longer a boater, and when I took a walk around the canal recently, I discovered that London’s canals have hundreds more boats than before, many in temporary moorings – constant cruisers that have to move every two weeks. Twenty years ago, you could walk from Little Venice to the Sainsbury’s at Kensal Green and barely see a moored boat. Now, they are two abreast almost the entire way, on both sides of the canal. — citymetric.com
Find out more about how the housing crisis is affecting London:Brexit will put even more strain on towns already pressed for housingHow elevators could fix the affordable housing crisisLondon revives co-housingTo live in London you can't be a Londoner View full entry
If causal factors leading to housing unaffordability are not resolved over multiple generations, the social stratification will start to resemble countries like Russia, where a small elite control a vast share of the country’s total wealth.
The result? A society where the threat of class warfare would loom large. [...]
San Francisco and the Bay Area have long been committed to values which embrace inclusivity and counterculture. To see these values fraying so publicly adds insult to injury
— qz.com
More from San Francisco's housing crisis on Archinect:What these “pre-rent control” stats might reveal about SF's soaring housing costsBay Area media ban together for homelessness advocacyDon't blame the tech bros: SF's housing crisis is bonkers because of zoning, not startupsMan living in... View full entry
As rents spiral in London, one company is proposing a solution. The Collective is a new block of apartments that acts like a giant shared house: small private bedrooms with communal laundry, kitchens, spa, cinema and workspaces … and some covert matchmaking by the managers. Our series on the global revolution in urban living goes inside the modern-day boarding house — theguardian.com
Read related articles here:Manchester's economic boom threatens its cultural identityTo live in London you can't be a LondonerLondon fails to achieve any targets for affordable housing View full entry
Last year, Greater Manchester’s economy outgrew that of inner-city London. Further devolution of powers from Whitehall are about to be realised, and the campaign for the title of first elected mayor of Greater Manchester has picked up pace.
However, Manchester is also about to contend with the capital in other ways. A major housing crisis lurks, and a growing deficit of office space needs to be dealt with. To make amends, Manchester’s skyline is heading for dramatic change.
— theguardian.com
Read more article concerning the housing crisis spreading across UK cities:To live in London you can't be a LondonerLondon fails to achieve any targets for affordable housingArchitects design ‘the house of tomorrow’ View full entry
Private property developers are outmanoeuvring councils in housing negotiations and routinely delivering fewer affordable homes than town halls want, an industry analysis has revealed.
Amid growing anger at the sale to foreign buyers of almost two-thirds of London’s tallest residential skyscraper, which includes no affordable housing, it has emerged that not one London borough which set targets met them in the last six years.
— the Guardian
For more on the increasingly dire state of housing in London, take a look at some past coverage:London's Bleak Housing£950 for a mouldy 'central' flat? Welcome to London.The root of London's housing crisis lies beyond its bordersLondon's housing crisis is creating a chasm... View full entry
A City Council committee could take the first steps Tuesday toward mandating that developers include affordable units in new housing complexes to be built in several East Austin neighborhoods.
The proposal by Council Member Greg Casar, who chairs the council’s Planning and Neighborhoods Committee, comes as soaring rents have pushed poorer and minority residents out of the city.
— My Statesman
The plan would mark a significant shift in direction from the current, incentive-based approach that allows developers to build larger buildings in exchange for including affordable housing units. As it stands now, developers can also pay a fee to the city's housing fund in order to build... View full entry
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) invited six contemporary architecture practices to create speculative responses to the UK’s housing crisis for the exhibition, At Home in Britain: Designing the House of Tomorrow.
Drawing on materials from the RIBA archives, the studios from the UK, France and the Netherlands produced designs that re-examine the familiar housing typologies of the cottage, terrace and flat.
— thespaces.com
Read relating article here:Architects advice to London's new mayor Sadiq Khan£950 for a mouldy 'central' flat? Welcome to London.The root of London's housing crisis lies beyond its bordersLondon's Bleak Housing View full entry
What’s the root cause of Los Angeles’ affordable housing crisis? Many blame the new luxury housing developments springing up... driving up interest in the neighborhood and attracting hipsters. Landlords take notice and soon rents start climbing. That’s the story anyway.
But here’s the thing: If booming development in hot markets like Hollywood and downtown is why rents keep going up... why have the same price increases hit locales with extremely limited development?
— LA Times
"Because our problems aren’t driven by a local phenomenon but by a regional one: low residential vacancy rates. Nothing is more important, and data from the American Community Survey confirm this. Zooming out to look at the 20 largest U.S. cities rather than local ZIP codes, the... View full entry